Walking into the University Art Gallery’s latest exhibition, “Regeneration: Contemporary Chinese Art from China and the U.S.” it is difficult not to be overwhelmed by the variety of works on display: Chinese calligraphy. Digital video. Traditional furniture. Oil paintings. Mixed media. Photography. Performance art. Too much to squeeze into a small gallery, you might ask? Not at all. This latest exhibition is truly groundbreaking in that it showcases some of the most exciting contemporary Chinese art being produced today.
“Regeneration” highlights the newfound vibrancy of modern Chinese art and brings it out of the shadows of Mao Zedong and the Cultural Revolution. After Mao’s death in 1976, years of cultural isolationism and strict restrictions that deeply affected Chinese artists and their work collapsed and enabled a fast-paced overhaul in the way these artists produce and exhibit their work. This rebirth of Chinese art has piqued the interest of the Western world, which for years was not allowed to take part in the Chinese art scene. While several significant exhibitions of Chinese avant-garde art have been organized in the United States in recent years, they have primarily been exhibited in a small number of urban centers. It is easy to see why “Regeneration” is innovative and the first major substantial exhibition focusing on the work of prominent and emerging Chinese artists. After closing in the Samek Art Gallery at Bucknell University in Pennsylvania, the exhibit has been touring museums, universities and art schools throughout the United States.
“Regeneration” encompasses the work of 26 artists who reside in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, New York and Pennsylvania. They include Ai Weiwei, Chen Lingyang, Hai Bo, Hong Hao, Li Yongbin, Lin Tianmiao, Liu Wei, Liu Xiaodong, Qiu Zhijie, Yu Hong, Zhang Dali, Zhang Xiaogang, Zhang Yajie, Zhao Liang (Beijing); Chen Shaoxiong, Liang Juhui (Guangzhou); Hong Lei, Hu Jieming, Xu Zhen, Zhou Xiaohu (Shanghai); and Cai Jin, Wenda Gu, Xiaoze Xie, Xu Bing, Yun-Fei Ji, Zhang Huan (United States).
While the pieces in “Regeneration” are very diverse, the artists manifest various common themes. Some artists, such as Wenda Gu, utilize traditional Chinese art forms in new ways. The wall panel — a conventional Chinese fixture — gets a new twist in “United Nations,” Gu’s mixed media installation incorporating hair that people of different races have donated, as well as characters that look Chinese, but are in fact a mixture of English, Islamic and Chinese text. The furniture that completes her installation has been reconstructed from Chinese Ming style and French Louis XV chairs.
Chen Lingyang plays on the long-established metaphor of women as flowers in “The Twelve Flower Months,” a trio of color photographs that uses the artist’s own body as the subject. Floral imagery is directly juxtaposed with images of a naked body and a pristine trickle of blood running down a pale inner thigh. Lingyang subverts the metaphor by examining it through the physiological reality of menstruation.
Other artists have undercurrents of violence and abuse in their works. Xu Zhen’s video, “Rainbow,” focuses on the artist’s naked back against a plain white background. The audio counterpart plays a repetitive, loud and violent slapping sound. Though you never see who is abusing him, Zhen’s back shows a wide spectrum of colors along with the imprints of fingers and hands. Zhou Liang’s “Bored Youth” stays consistent in demonstrating this theme of violence by following a teenager at night through an abandoned neighborhood and capturing the aggressive images and sounds of him destroying windowpanes. The video’s creepy soundtrack and green-hued images lends a disturbing quality to the artwork.
Other artists’ work has been heavily influenced by Western movements such as surrealism and dadaism. Zhang Xiaogang’s oil painting, “No. 14,” shows a young man’s vapid face resting on a book with his eyes shut. Muted colors and symbols scattered in the painting are reminiscent of Salvador Dali and Rene Magritte’s works. Many of these Western influences have been seen in avant-garde Chinese art since the country was “opened up” to Western ideas and movements after the Cultural Revolution.
Overall, the exhibit’s body of work represents a revitalization of contemporary life and culture in China. “Regeneration” is a stimulating break from end-of-the-quarter-stress, as the various provocative pieces take you through a variety of media, moods and emotions. “Regeneration” will be on display through July 2. The University Art Gallery is open Tuesday though Saturday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
